Basement pool requires clever steel frame to support rest of property

Location: St Anne’s Road East
Sector: Residential

Savvy building design relies on making the best use of whatever space is available. While some developers opt to build up, others choose to excavate deep down below. At St Anne’s Road East in Lytham St Anne’s, where the owners of the land already have an expansive primary dwelling, this was the necessary route to create a luxury add-on focused on wellness.

Partnering with architect Ben Jurin, the residents created designs for a 4,400 sq ft extension containing three upper floor bedrooms, a ground floor cinema and subterranean swimming pool. The property would be joined to the original house via a glass link corridor.

Wareing Buildings was appointed to fabricate and install a structural steel frame and composite slabs to form a suspended ground floor deck above the already-installed reinforced concrete basement walls, which would accommodate the swimming pool tank.

To do so, we completed the property’s survey work to determine the dimensional accuracy required to not only deliver a structurally-sound frame, but also a perfect square space. Doing so would ensure the more complex design elements of the building could be achieved, too, including a precast concrete staircase.

Speaking of the project, Jason Worledge, chartered engineer for Wareing Buildings, said: “As properties in the North West become increasingly high-end, we’re seeing a greater demand to install bespoke features – like underground swimming pools.

“This challenges us to think differently about how our steel frames should be fabricated, to firstly ensure the whole property is structurally sound but also ensure that the building can be easily rendered, so the frame becomes invisible. So, even when you can’t see a steel frame playing its part in a property, it’s still there, making sure everybody using it is safe and can enjoy the great features they’ve chosen to install.”